How To Fuse Peppermint Plates

Oh glass folks will love this one.  It's a plate made out of peppermint candies.  Easy to make and our Southern Flames friend, Stephanie White was the creator of it.  Here's how she explained it.

1. Lay out your peppermint candies on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper

2. PreHeat your oven to 350 degrees.  (she actually said "kiln" when telling us.

3. Pop your tray in for about 8 minutes.

Needless to say, it comes out flat.  Stephanie then slumped it over a bowl covered in parchment paper to add some movement to it.   Pretty cool, isn't it?

Ayose Tutorial Directory- Lampwork Glass

If you haven't had a chance to stop by Lina Khan's lampwork tutorial website, you're missing out.

Open to tutorial authors, for pay or free, you are allowed to submit as many listings as you have tutorials and it's free to post your data.

So tell me, do you have favorite tutorials? I'd love to know which ones.

Button Tutorial by Jill Symons

Have you seen the lovely glass work that my friend, Jill Symons makes?

Her website is http://www.JillSymons.com and she designs and flameworks lovely beads and completed jewelry and then sells them directly from her website.

But the important part about today's post is that Jill has a free and well illustrated lampwork button tutorial on her website. You can find it here.

You're going to read it and go out and make some new buttons. Bet you. You'll smack your forehead and say, "why haven't I been doing this all along!". So get out there and try it. And then let me know how you do. In fact, I might just get off the computer for a few minutes and make some myself.

Can't wait to hear from you and please share the link to this tutorial. Thanks Jill! Love it.

Hulk Hogan in 10 EASY Steps.

Our Southern Flames lampwork beadmaking group had a monthly challenge to make a "Macho" bead in honor of Fathers Day.

I thought about this for awhile and wondered what I wanted to do. There are a lot of shapes and items that come to mind, but quite honestly, I don't think "macho" both in color or style is really my thing. (periwinkle and aqua aren't exactly macho colors)

Luckily, I was saved by www.msn.com. Who knew? There on the front page was a story about Hulk Hogan. Perfect I thought. Here's an overly muscular guy who bleaches his hair blonde, does the fake bake suntan thing, and has bulging muscles. Perfect for my parody style. So away I went. And here's how to make your own Hulk Hogan bead, just in case you've been yearning for one and don't want to buy mine, which is in my lampwork bead Etsy shop.

Hulk Hogan Mini Tutorial in 10 Easy Steps

1. make a wide barrel bead out of dark ivory, or as I used, one of the flesh shades from CIM glass.
2. flatten it, and gently marver in both ends to add a little facial definition.
3. swipe a small band of white where the teeth go. Don't worry about perfection, because you're going to frame it with his moustache.
4. wrap lapis blue around the top part of his head a couple of times and keep it partially rounded for his bandana. (don't add the tails in the back yet.)
5. mix yellow and white to make a pale yellow glass. Heat both ends really hot and keep smushing together and pulling apart and smushing some more. Make sure you get it really hot before you pull it out and gently cool a bit and then pull it out into thick stringer. Don't want air bubbles in it.
6. Using the cooled thick soft yellow stringer, swipe vertical stripes onto the back of his head for hair. Turn the bead over and make an upside down "U" over his white teeth to form his moustache.
7. Add two large dots of black for his sunglasses. While still warm, pull the outer edges up and out to form the glasses. Add a small thin strip around the side of his face for the sunglass arms and heat both dots to the center to bring it across to join the dots.
8. Add a small dot for his nose. Spread it out a bit for nostrils and add two small indentations for his nostrils.
9. Add dots for his ears and indent to shape them.
10. Add two small swooshes to form an upside down "v" with his blue bandanna glass to the back side to show where it was tied.

Robert Simmons' Wearable Butterfly Bead Tutorial

At our last meeting of Southern Flames in Atlanta, GA, Robert Simmons, cool guy and the National Director of Bead Donations for Beads of Courage, demonstrated one of his versions of a butterfly bead.

These beads are given to Beads of Courage parents, who have lost their child from illness.

And, because Robert is so kind and generous, he has written up a tutorial for making them. You can find it HERE. If you start making them, would you please donate a few to Beads of Courage? You know how near and dear that group is to my heart.

And to see photos of Robert making the bead during our fabulous meeting, check out this page from our Southern Flames scrapbook. (You can also see our two new co-presidents at the same time- two for one!

Enjoy the tutorial. And pay attention to some of the little hints he gives. For example, I love that he says to start with a clear base and to put the opaque over it. The clear makes the soft glass a little stiffer and less floppy. Good thinking Robert. (well, he is a Ph.D too.) Have fun.

Making Your Own Headpins

Do you belong to Beaders Showcase?

I really enjoy that they strongly encourage videos to be posted there. I recently watched one on making your own headpins.

Here is the link to the How To Make Your Own Headpins.

I hadn't realized that it's so easy to do. I'm not sure that I want to make all of my headpins, but there are times in which an extra long one is needed. Or now that I have watched it, I think there are other things I might want to do with fine silver. I just need to think of what they may be. Got any ideas?

Of course it wouldn't be so much fun if a torch wasn't involved. The Creative Jeweler, who made this video, said even a creme brulee kitchen torch would work. I guess that's an excuse to go buy something else that's shoots fire. Woo hoo! I like those tools.

Do you make your own headpins or something else that is really easy? Tell me about it. I'm always interested in acquiring new skills. Especially if they involve just a touch of danger.

See you tomorrow-

Fantastic Online Resource for Digital Technology

Perhaps you are naturally talented at the computer.  If so, you may want to skip this post.  But if you are like me, there are times I want to pull my hair out.  I know there has to be a solution to my problem, but I just don't know  how to do it.  As a glass artist, I need this information for improving my online sales.

Meet www.Lynda.com   This is a website where you can learn the latest tools and techniques in digital media, design and development.  Lynda.com, which is a paid subscriber service, has tons of online tutorials, (which are well written, because even I could understand them), podcasts, an online store and all kinds of training.  And they stay really current with the new technology.

Here's the best part- you can get a free trial for checking out what they have to offer.  As the homepage says," 35,400 video tutorials with 544 online courses on a huge variety of software and design topics.  4,524 free movies to try before you buy."  

Hope this resource helps you the way it's helped me.  If only they could tell us how to have more hours in the day- but at least having this available to help 24/7 saves me some time too.

Mini Tutorial ~ Marcy's Quick & Easy Bead Stands

Are you a beadmaker or bead lover who could use a little stand to display your beads? By any chance, have you bent a mandrel and don't want to throw it out, because it seems wasteful, but don't know for the life of you, what to do with it?

Well folks, here you go...
Marcy's Quick & Easy Beadstand - modeled by Jack the bunny. (I couldn't get Vanna White to do the honors.)

Here's what you need:

1 glass rod (any color you like)
1 approximately 1/2" cut piece of bent mandrel that needs to feel useful.
1 pair of mashers to flatten your bead
1 marver
1 pair of pliers or other gripping tool

Directions To Make Marcy's Beadstand
1. Choose your color glass and roll a barrel shape onto your mandrel.

2. Marver it into shape.
(make it a little longer and wider than you think you need, so there's a large enough stable place for your bead to sit.)

3. Flatten it with your mashers

4. While keeping your stand warm, pick up the little piece of mandrel, and heat just the end in the flame. Spot heat the location where you want to place it on your bead.

5. Poke the steel piece into the glass being sure not to place it exactly in the middle where your mandrel is. It will go a little behind that, so it can go down deeply into the glass.

6. While keeping your stand warm all over, spot heat the area again where it went in, so the glass flows to the connection point.

7. With your pliers, make any minor adjustments to be sure your mandrel piece is standing up straight. Look at it from the front and the side and adjust it.

8. Anneal same as any other bead.

I use these for photography, selling at shows and home display. They're quick and easy. If you want to get fancy, how about making the bead on one of your bead presses, (make sure that it's flat on both sides) and it will look really professional too.

Hope you enjoy this mini tutorial. It's a great way to feel like you're doing your part to reduce, re-use and recycle, as well as have something great to show for it too.

If you don't feel like trying them, my etsy shop has these bead stands for sale starting today.

What Big Eyes You Have

I enjoy making little owl beads in bright colors and even sometimes wearing clothes or accessories.

Meet Sven, the uber cool owl.

This time I wanted to change it up a little bit and instead of wearing a necklace, hat or peace symbol, this one has particularly large eyes. Which makes me think this owl has had too much coffee. He looks a little stressed out. I've felt that way plenty of times.

I used commercial murrini for these, because there they were, sitting in my murrini container just staring at me.
(Of course you can easily make them too.)

These give you a good view of how they are made. You can see the center core color which is a dark transparent green, like deep grass green and then opaque white, medium grass green
transparent, opaque white again and then light grass green transparent. The darker core going to a lighter outside color makes the center visually recede.

When I apply murrini, I spot heat the area where the murrini is going and I gently warm the murrini so it doesn't crack when placed on the warm glass. I use my tweezers to place it where I want it to go. At that point it is sticking out a lot. Gently heat the base bead around the edges and again carefully push it a little farther in. If you heat directly onto the murrini and make it too warm, the design will distort. And it seems like the opaque white spreads really easily if too warm. So slightly heat and press over and over until it's in place.

Because the rectangular murrini shape gives him a bit of a 60's mod feel, his eyes definitely have the starring role. I wanted to keep the rest of the bead simple, so it would not distract from them. The back side has his little tail that I make in the shape of a heart.

This bead is less than an inch tall. And if you enjoy a pun or two, I was on quite a roll, when I wrote the description. Click and enjoy. And then go use up some of your old murrini in a bead and send me a photo. And remember, stepping outside of the coloring lines in how you use them makes your beads interesting and unique. I'd love to see what you create.

Lost in Translation? I'm International.

I've been translated into Russian and so delighted about it.

I saw my ice cream cone mini tutorial here, and it sure was a surprise. But a good one. Maya, if you are reading this, please look farther back in my blog, and I have other mini tutorials and you are welcome to use them.

And if you can, could you please post and tell us a little about beadmaking in your country. I think you might be from Belarus. Where do you get your glass? Is there a market for beads in your country? Do you sell at outdoor markets or shops, or is it all through the internet? Do you have glass teachers there and is there anything we can help you with? I have the translator on the right side of my blog, if you need it, or if any of my regular readers want to ask questions. Hopefully Maya will find us again.

I know I have lots of readers who are not from the States. I would love to hear from you also. Please tell us what beadmaking is like in your countries. I would love to see this small art niche in a large world, get a little smaller.

Anyone else have questions or answers? Let's get some fascinating conversations going.

Ice Cream In Cold Weather- Here's a Tutorial on How To Make Your Own

To me, it's never the wrong time of the year for ice cream, no matter how cold outside it is.

I thought I'd tell you how to make your own ice cream cone, so when the warm weather hits, you can have plenty on hand.

1. Using dark ivory, make a small cone.  I use my torch mounted marver to roll it out.

2. Using the ice cream color of your choice, start adding glass to the top of the cone shape and once you have the top section full enough, gently melt it so it becomes rounded and smooth.

Hint: be sure to rotate your mandrel so the glass can flow into place,  I often have my mandrel upside down, so the glass flows next to the mandrel and rounds out on the very top.

3. Now you're ready to add your "drips".  At the bottom edge of the "ice cream scoop",  I make "V" shapes with more glass.  I also take the end of my rod and drag it farther down, if I need to.

Melt slightly so it's smooth.

4. With a razor or the sharp edge of your Stump Shaper, carve a circle around the original scoop, so it shows well.  That also pushes glass in each direction and enhances your drips.

5. With your razor,  gently heat one area at a time on the cone and make your diagonal slashes.  I do one direction first and then the other direction afterwards.

6. Using a red of your choice, you can add the cherry on top.

7.  Voila!  A calorie free ice cream cone ready for you.

If you want to purchase a ready made ice cream cone, click here.  And don't forget, I'd be happy to make one in your favorite flavors...just ask me.

And if you haven't joined in yet, check out my One World, One Heart post below.  The details to win Scoot the Valentine Pup are in it.  This goes through February 12th.

See you tomorrow.

Hidden Tutorial and Tips Resource- Mid Atlantic Chapter ISGB

I know many of us check out the main forums for hints, tips, tricks and tutorials. But do you know that a lot of the ISGB Chapters have websites that have this info too?

One of my favorite places to visit is the Mid-Atlantic Society of Glass Beadmakers' website. Lots and lots of wonderful beadmakers in that area and many have generously written out tutorials, tips and all kinds of goodies related to it.

One of their members is my friend, Alice St. Germain whose Patty Pan bead I am featuring here. Alice and I co-hosted a fun garage sale when she lived here. As things wound down, we had cocktails in the shady driveway and I taught her the joy of playing Yahtzee while waiting for customers. I miss her.

I digressed, sorry. Anyhow, here's a link to Mid-Atlantic's home page. The top left area of the homepage has the link for tutorials, classes and archives. That's the area that has the really juicy resources, but poke around the rest of it. And don't forget to look at the bottom left section of the home page that has links to other Mid-Atlantic Beadmaking Groups. There's tons more info there too. Enjoy!